Official Lost Podcast transcript/February 13, 2006
---- Kris White: Welcome back to the Official Lost Podcast, hosted by abc.com. Today we interview with that Canadian beauty Evangeline Lilly. Last week she talked about being cast for the role of Kate. This time, however, we veer off into more interesting territory. Namely, her affectation for cigars. And later we turn it over to the dynamic duo: executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse as they rehash "The Long Con" and look forward to this week's episode, "One of Them," which airs Wednesday, February 15, from 9 to 10pm Eastern. music Kris White: The character Kate has always been one about challenging the system. It turns out Evangeline Lilly has been the same way, at least when it comes down to the boys' club, which is how she first came to experience and love cigars, or loved cigars, as the case may be. Because, as we found out, all things fade, or in this case, go up in smoke. Evangeline Lilly: I actually, um, I'm on a hiatus from cigars right now. I really loved cigars. I smoked them for eight years and probably shouldn't have. It's probably not very good for me, but I got hooked on them when I was relatively young because my girlfriend got married, and I was at her wedding party, and at her wedding, I was standing out on the balcony where all the grooms were gathered, and they all lit up cigars, and nobody offered me one, and I just thought it was relatively chauvinistic of them not to offer the one female standing with them a cigar because it was a boys' club thing, and being a woman who gets her back up about feminism once in a while laughs, I turned to her new husband, and I said, "Aren't you gonna offer me one?" And he said, "You smoke cigars?" And I went, "Of course I do." Evangeline Lilly: I'd never had a puff of cigar in my life before. But I just felt I had to make a point. So he handed me a cigar, and I'd never even had a smoke, a puff of a cigarette or a joint or anything. I mean, I'd never taken smoke into my lungs before, and thank goodness for that because I think most people who do smoke, the first time they smoke a cigar, they inhale it, and they choke and gag on it. I didn't know any better, so I didn't inhale because I thought that the smoke was gonna be disgusting and it was gonna make me choke, so I just pulled the smoke into my mouth and blew it out again, exactly as you're supposed to. And I kind of thought: Wow, that tasted really good. I really liked that, and I smoked the whole cigar, and that started it. From then on, every special occasion when I would go out to a bar, when I would be drinking, or, you know, maybe a port wine or something, a cigar would come out. My favorites were Cohibas. And then I ended up dating a series of guys who ended up joining me, and that became something we would do together. But recently I had a terrible experience with cigars, where I had this day, I did a whole day of press, 12 hours of press. I was exhausted. I'd barely eaten because when you're running around doing press, they don't really afford you time to eat a lot of the time, and then I went from there to a photoshoot, then I went from a photoshoot to a press party where I was supposed to eat, but then everybody kept trying to interview me at the party, and again I didn't get the chance to eat. In the mean time, I'm slowly getting more and more intoxicated. And then I topped off the intoxication with a very big cigar, and then I went off to Matthew's birthday party and had some shooters and another cigar, and... I don't do that. I just don't do that. I don't do the partying thing, where you get really drunk, and you get- and I- that was a very new experience for me. I vomited. I- it was the first time I'd ever thrown up from alcohol ever in my life. That was last year laughs, and I associated it with the taste of cigars, and from then on, the smell and taste of them absolutely repulsed me, so I decided to take a break for a while. Kris White: Now, just a quick public service announcement here. Smoking is bad for you, even just cigars, not to mention they're a fire hazard. If one piece of ash gets on your dress, or worse, in your toupée, suffice it to say: smoking bad, Lost good. Smoking bad, Lost good. Got it. Well, that's all the time we have for Evangeline for now. Next week, we bring you our exclusive interview with the huggable Hurley: actor Jorge Garcia. Now, however, we join Damon and Carlton fresh from their mandatory company training on diversity and sensitivity in the workplace. In other words, no more Brokeback Mountain jokes. Instead, they focus on other mountain activities, like the Winter Olympics. Carlton Cuse: Hello, and welcome to this week's podcast. I'm Carlton Cuse. Damon Lindelof: And I am Damon Lindelof, a little sick this week. Carlton Cuse: Damon's a little under the weather. Actually, we both were a little under the weather, and you when you work under the close quarters that we do writing the show, basically your virus is my virus. Damon Lindelof: This is absolutely fascinating. giggles Carlton Cuse: But I'm on the mend. Damon is a little- his voice is a little more cigarette smoky today, but you're up for this, aren't you Damon? Damon Lindelof: I think it works for me. Carlton Cuse: I think it does, it's- Damon Lindelof: It's bringing me- Carlton Cuse: I don't want to go back to all that Brokeback Mountain stuff again this week. Damon Lindelof: You do though, but that's exactly why we're not gonna do it. Carlton Cuse: Okay, so let's talk about this week's story. How difficult was it to plot out such a complex con as in "The Long Con"? What kind of research did it require? Damon Lindelof: Well, I, you know, "The Long Con" was actually a really fun episode for us to sort of think about because, you know, for a while, the writers have sort of been itching to get Sawyer back to his roots and the whole idea of like, that this season, he's become more of a hero character, much the same way that Han Solo started getting pissed off when he suddenly looked at himself and realized that he was- had joined the rebel alliance without ever declaring to do so. So we wanted to construct a scenario under which Sawyer would be pissed off enough to basically go back to sort of his darker roots, and we talked about it, and talked about it, and talked about it and said, essentially, all it would boil down to is: could a small act like Jack taking medicine away from Sawyer be enough to sort of provoke, you know, almost a nuclear option. When you really look at the episode, you go: Wow, you know, Sawyer hatched this plan, you know, where Sun gets grabbed, he enlists Charlie, he lies to Kate, gets everybody fired up against Ana Lucia, goes and manipulates Locke, all because, you know, essentially, he doesn't want to be loved and he's pissed off about his stuff being taken. So we sort of- we started with that idea and then sort of worked our way backwards through it. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, I mean, I think that we sort of- we wanted to reset Sawyer. I mean, you know, it's great that there's the lovable, fun charming Sawyer, but ultimately the character is full of self-loathing and is sort of self-destructive, and, you know, we sort of felt like we've seen enough of the sort of happy side of Sawyer that we really wanted to sort of revisit the darker, more troubled side of the character. And, you know, I mean, again all of these characters are sort of full of kind of very contradictory qualities, and I think that, you know, in upcoming episodes, you know, you will begin to see some of the results of the fact that we've reset some of these characters more into the mode that they were in at the beginning of last year. 'Cause there was a second part of that question here about what sort of research did this long con require and, you know, finally, just as an admission, the whole gas station con with the gold chains actually happened to me when I first came to L.A. I was in a gas station with a friend of mine, and it was as in the movie- as in the show, basically. Um, I got approached and was conned into buying some gold chains, one of which I gave to my girlfriend, now wife, and, um, she obviously forgave me for the fact that it turned green about three days into her wearing it. But, you know, overall I think in terms of the plot, it wasn't that we sort of researched cons. It's just that, you know, I think that we have a really good group of writers, and we worked really hard at trying to sort of sort out and plot, you know, the twists and turns of the story, and I think, you know, we ultimately got to a place where we were very satisfied with the fact that, you know, we just- we kept sort of trying to work this story to make sure that it landed in a ways that were not quite what the audience may expect. Damon Lindelof: And we're all full of self-loathing ourselves. Carlton Cuse: snickers Yeah. Damon Lindelof: So that's a place that we know how to write from. Carlton Cuse: Exactly. Um, so are there any Easter eggs you want to discuss, like the appearance of Kate's mom? I wouldn't really call Kate's mom's appearance an Easter egg, would you? Damon Lindelof: Yeah, it's pretty obviously Kate's mom there. You know, we just thought that was a cool beat, you know, in sort of the spirit of how these characters interconnect in the past that Sawyer was sort of in this diner, and he happened to be working this con in, uh, Iowa, which is where- Carlton Cuse: Kate- Damon Lindelof: Is it Iowa or Ohio? Carlton Cuse: That was Iowa. Damon Lindelof: I think it's Iowa. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, where Kate- Damon Lindelof: I was confused by states. Carlton Cuse: No, that was Iowa, and uh, yeah, I mean, again, it's just part of the- you know, we are definitely going to be revisiting this notion of how the characters' lives have intertwined in the past more this season, and, you know, it's sort of an important piece of the fabric of the show, and, you know, I think the interconnectedness of all of us is something that is very thematically interesting to Damon and me, and, you know, I think it's just we sort of feel like that, you know, just as a value the fact that we all sort of need each other, this sort of live together, die alone theory is, you know, part of, I think, the hopefulness that underlies all these stories, even if the stories themselves are intense and dark in their sort of specifics. Damon Lindelof: So moving forwards, next week's episode, or this week's episode, depending on when you're listening to this, is called "One of Them." Carlton Cuse: Yes. Damon Lindelof: Carlton and I actually wrote this script. Carlton Cuse: Yes. Damon Lindelof: I guess we can talk about that for a moment, but, you know, one of the things that I'd actually like to sort of side track for a second and say that while we love the promo department of ABC, and they do a fantastic job of sort of selling the show, you know, in the case of "One of Them"'s promo for next week, they showed a lot, like in terms of everything that you and I could potentially talk about, you know: the fact that Rousseau is coming back, the fact that there's a man who's caught in a net snickers, the fact that Sayid is going to torture this man, and the fact that the DHARMA clock counts down to zero, you've all seen already, so there's nothing really we- Carlton Cuse: Oh my god. Damon Lindelof: ...could tell you beyond those things- Carlton Cuse: I didn't see the promo last night. Damon Lindelof: ...that would intrigue you more. Carlton Cuse: They spilled it out, huh? Damon Lindelof: Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. They don't show you what happens when the DHARMA clock counts down to zero, but they show it counting down, so- I'll be watching. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, and um... You know, this episode sort of kicks off a whole story arc for the next group of episodes and without saying too much about it, it sort of launches, you know, kind of a lot of what becomes the narrative focus for the next four or five episodes of the show, so it's an important episode in sort of setting up the next chapter of life on this island and ultimately- Damon Lindelof: So watch it instead of figure skating, please? Carlton Cuse: Exactly, you know, you- Damon Lindelof: You can watch figure skating, seriously- Carlton Cuse: All the time, exactly. Damon Lindelof: ...all the time. Carlton Cuse: Put it on your Tivo, okay? Damon Lindelof: But it's gonna be a Sayid episode. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: And one of the things that we think is cool about it is, you know, Sayid's another guy who we sort of- it's easy to forget who he was before the crash. We sort of know him as this sort of heroic, romantic character, but the reality is that he was a torturer, and enlisted in the Iraqi Republican Guard, and we're gonna show you another story from his past, that actually takes place before any of the stories that you've seen, uh, before -- a much younger Sayid. And, you know, Naveen is just fantastic in this episode, so we'll sort of let it speak for itself. Carlton Cuse: I just hope they don't put Bode Miller opposite us. I want to see Bode Miller. Damon Lindelof: Who's that? Carlton Cuse: He's the alpine skiing dude, you know. Damon Lindelof: Oh yeah, he's awesome. Carlton Cuse: That kind of semi-crazy- Damon Lindelof: I know Apollo Ohno is the skating guy. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Yeah, so... Damon Lindelof: Hopefully, those guys will be... Carlton Cuse: overlaps Those guys will... Carlton Cuse: I mean, maybe they'll put biathlon, or something like that. Damon Lindelof: Is that where you like ski and shoot a gun? Carlton Cuse: Yeah, now like where does that come from? Why would anybody, I mean, like, how is that an Olympic sport? I mean, really. Damon Lindelof: I- I'm biathlon-curious, so... snickers I just- it means that I- I don't know whether or not I want to ski or shoot a gun, but both is intimidating. Carlton Cuse: Not that both aren't rigorous pursuits, but like, the idea of combining them together, you know, I mean... Damon Lindelof: It doesn't seem that safe actually. Carlton Cuse: It really... no. Damon Lindelof: No, the two sports to combine: riflery snickers and downhill skiing just don't feel like a natural fit. snickers But that's just me, what do I know? exhales Carlton Cuse: And now, time for our questions! fanfare Damon Lindelof: Hooray! Carlton Cuse: Okay, great. Damon Lindelof: All right, that's better. Carlton Cuse: All right, all right, okay, Damon? Damon Lindelof: I like our new theme, our new question theme. I like the fanfare. Carlton Cuse: s-krona or s-k-rona or skro-na2004 wants to know, "Why didn't they ask the Others who they are, how they got there, and how they can get off the Island. This is driving me nuts!" Damon Lindelof: I think that's a very good question, and the answer to it is, you know, the Others are, at least Mr. Friendly, who we will refer to the man with the beard as, uh, basically tells them that they are being surrounded by, um, other Others. Um, Otherses? Carlton Cuse: Other- Otheri. Damon Lindelof: And basically he does the majority of the talking. When someone has a gun on you, that's pretty much the scenario. And um, the good news is that this question that you're asking, skrona2004, is going to be dealt with immediately. If you tune in to this week's episode and subsequent episodes for the obvious reasons, you know, uh, you will find many of these questions asked and even some of them answered, believe it or not. Carlton Cuse: And certainly by the end of the year, you know, the Others become increasingly a focus of what we're doing narratively in the show, so, you know, you won't have all the answers about the Others by the end of the season, but you will have a lot more information. Damon Lindelof: Excellent. Carlton Cuse: Okay, um... your turn. Damon Lindelof: Uh, okay, Carlton, this is a good one because it references a quote that I made, and maybe you can clean up my mess. This is asked by pawn5, um, "Canadian version of TV Guide, January 28th to February 3rd issue, has one of the executive producers of Lost, Damon Lindelof-" They actually spell my name correctly here. That's very exciting for me. Carlton Cuse: I do like questions where you're referred to as Damien. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, that's true, Carl. laughs Damon Lindelof: Uh, "Answering-" Carlton Cuse: I don't go by Carl, sorry. Damon Lindelof: "Answering a question of what the numbers mean, and here's the quote, 'That question will never ever be answered. I couldn't possibly imagine how we could answer that question. We will see more ramifications of the numbers and more usage of the numbers.'" And pawn5 goes on to write, "There we have it folks. The numbers will never be explained, so what's the point now?" Carlton Cuse: Why would you say that Damon? Why would you give such an incendiary quote? I mean, my god! Damon Lindelof: I can't imagine ever having said these things... Carlton Cuse: What were you thinking? Damon Lindelof: I must have been drunk. Carlton Cuse: Oh my god, exactly, you and Bode Miller were out- Damon Lindelof: Yeah. Carlton Cuse: ...drinking together and- Damon Lindelof: Shooting guns. Carlton Cuse: ...skiing. Um, okay, the th- I think what you meant was... Damon Lindelof: What did I mean? Carlton Cuse: I think what you meant, Damon, was that it's sort of an impossible question on one level to answer. I mean, some of the mysteries of this show are sort of like religious mysteries, like how would you explain, you know, the notion of God? I mean, you can take a stab at an answer, you can- but there may be a thousand different ways to answer that question, and I think that- that there's certain- there's a certain mystical quality to the numbers that may not ever be explained. It doesn't mean that we don't understand their role, their significance, their importance, but, you know, that- there- in certain parts of the storytelling of the show are embedded in mysteries that are just inherently unexplainable, and different characters will have different interpretations of what those ultimate mysteries mean, so in that sense, I think that- that's probably what you meant. Damon Lindelof: That sounds exactly what I meant. So thank you for clarifying that. Carlton Cuse: Oh, no problems. Damon Lindelof: I have a feeling that quote will be coming back to bite me for years to come. Carlton Cuse: It will. Damon Lindelof: Thanks- Carlton Cuse: I'm sure. Damon Lindelof: That's optimistic. Carlton Cuse: Um, okay, the LockeNessMonster... Damon Lindelof: Gee, I wonder who this question's gonna be about. Carlton Cuse: Says, "Will Quentin Tarantino guest direct Lost? As Lost features great story telling, imaginative situations and engaging characters, I am reminded of the works of another great fiction writer/director, Mr. Quentin Tarantino. Would you ever consider letting Mr. Quentin Tarantino guest direct an episode of Lost?" Damon Lindelof: Alright, well, first off, I happen to know that LockeNessMonster is Quentin Tarantino, laughs so please stop calling our offices. Stop using aliases when you're emailing us. Stop sending us candy and flowers. Uh, the Uma Thurman thing that you did was very, very flattering. Um, when an availability opens up, a slot is available, we will talk. But until then, uh, we're glad that you're a fan of the show. We're huge fans of yours, but the timing has gotta be right, so... Carlton Cuse: But, speaking on the subject of guest directors, we are- we do have our own very cool special guest director Darren Aronofsky, who is going to come and direct an episode of Lost, um, in uh, a few episodes from now and- Damon Lindelof: That's gonna be awesome. Carlton Cuse: Those of you who have not seen Mr. Darren Aronofsky's movies should check out Pi or A Requiem for a Dream. I'm- you know, he is just a real genius, visually imaginative storyteller, and he actually, uh, turns out to be a big fan of the show, and sort of through his agents approached us and said, "Would you guys be interested in having me direct an episode?" And we jumped at the opportunity, and, you know, I think that Darren and his particular sensibility, I mean there's actually certain thematic similarities between the movie Pi and things that we're doing on Lost, and I think that, you know, he's someone who's really going to be a really great collaborator for us. Damon Lindelof: We ripped him off. laughs That's really all there is to it, so now we gotta repay the favor. In all honesty though, we would kill to have Quentin Tarantino direct an episode of Lost. Uh, apparently, Quentin is a huge Alias fan and has appeared as a character on several episodes of Alias, um, a bad guy, uh, and he was great. So, any involvement that he would want to have on the show, we would welcome. Carlton Cuse: So if you're like one of Quentin's relatives, and you're listening to this podcast, uh, give him a buzz, and have him give us a call. Damon Lindelof: Cool. All right, this a very long-winded but very simple question, Carlton, and I'll preface it by saying: do not reveal the true person behind this question, but this is just asking for a confirmation or denial. Carlton Cuse: Okay. Damon Lindelof: So this is from ElianGon, e-l-i-a-n-g-o-n, "First off, huge Lost fan since 'Walkabout.' I have this bet with my roommates. Every week we get scenes from prior episodes. The first thing the voice says is 'Previously on Lost'. Well, I have been vehemently claiming that the guy who says 'Previously on Lost' sounds a lot like Tim Daly, from Wings fame. I have to know if it is Tim Daly's voice every week. Each and every week, my friends and I watch the episode to debate the minor details and major plot points but still every conversation ends with me proclaiming that Tim Daly is the first voice heard every week. Please, I need some closure on this. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated." Carlton Cuse: Well, ElianGon, the answer is no -- it is not Tim Daly. Damon Lindelof: Thank you, Carlton. Carlton Cuse: And, um... Damon Lindelof: Now you don't have to be so- Carlton Cuse: voice Previously on Lost. Damon Lindelof: Now you don't have to be so vehement. Carlton Cuse: And it's not me, and it's uh- but the mystery- it is a mystery person who does that voice. Damon Lindelof: It is a mystery person. Carlton Cuse: And, um, although, just as a side note, I went to the same high school as Tim Daly. Damon Lindelof: Is that true? Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: Wow. Carlton Cuse: Um... Damon Lindelof: But he doesn't do the voice? Carlton Cuse: But he doesn't do the voice. Damon Lindelof: Excellent. Carlton Cuse: Exactly. Damon Lindelof: That's another mystery solved. Carlton Cuse: Okay, so- Damon Lindelof: And people say we don't give you any answers. giggles Take that. overlaps: "Hey, Tim Daly" Take that, Elian Gonzalez. By the way, I'm glad that you're- is that what the name was, I guess? Carlton Cuse: Speaking of questions and mysteries that get no answers, Damon. Damon Lindelof: Yes? Carlton Cuse: Um, szk3 wants to know, "Why did the plane crash? I mean, this is something that has always bothered me. What brought down the plane? Was it the magnetic fields, or was it the black smoke?" Damon Lindelof: So, it's just either- laughs There's no C: none of the above? Carlton Cuse: That's- those are the two choices. Damon Lindelof: I love the boldness of just coming right out and asking that question, uh, "What made the plane crash?" And I don't think anyone would be markedly surprised by the fact that we are gonna- we're gonna sort of stand by no comment but uh- but we will also stand by the fact that by the end of Season 2, you will know. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Damon Lindelof: And, uh... Carlton Cuse: That is a question we are going to answer. Damon Lindelof: That is a question we are going to answer in rather definitive fashion, um, unlike the Numbers, giggles which mean nothing... Carlton Cuse: Exactly. Damon Lindelof: They're just completely arbitrary. Carlton Cuse: Exactly. Um... one more quick question? Damon Lindelof: All right, one more question, Carlton. This is about shoes. snickers. From emmashizlost, "In the very first episode of Lost, Season 1, Jack is running through the jungle, and there is a shoe that is hanging on the tree. Is there any significance with that shoe? Thanks. HamishPatel." Carlton Cuse: Uh, Hamish, thank you very much for your question. The significance of that shoe is that somebody basically died in that plane crash, and their shoe ended up in the tree. Damon Lindelof: And it fell off. Carlton Cuse: And it fell off and- Damon Lindelof: Landed in a branch. Carlton Cuse: You know- Damon Lindelof: Another- Carlton Cuse: Another mystery solved! That is the shoe of a dead man. Damon Lindelof: So in this podcast, we've taken care of Tim Daly, and the mystery behind the shoe- Carlton Cuse: So don't feel like that we're not advancing your knowledge of the mythology of the show. Um, we really enjoyed this this week, and we thank you so much for listening, and we will see you next time. Damon Lindelof: I can't wait. Carlton Cuse: Bye-bye. Damon Lindelof: Hopefully, I'll be feeling better. Carlton Cuse: You will be. Damon Lindelof: All right, I'm off to shoot some guns and ski. Bye. Carlton Cuse: Bye. Kris White: Thanks for joining us. That's all we have time for today. Join us next time for a sit-down with Jorge Garcia and more fascinating fan questions. Remember, you can submit your own questions at lost.abc.com. "One of Them" airs Wednesday, February 15th, from 9 to 10pm, only on ABC. soundtrack music Category: Official Podcasts